Techniques for animating stickers with sound

ABSTRACT

Techniques for animating stickers with sound include receiving audio input by a first mobile device; animating a selected image according to an energy level of the audio input using a set of animation frames associated with the selected image in a user interface view of an application executing on the first mobile device; and presenting the animated image concurrently with receiving the audio input. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

BACKGROUND

Interpersonal communication has progressed from the written word andvoice communication to instantaneous communications that may includetext, images, video, and sound. Many sources of multimedia content existfrom which a user can select content created by others to send in acommunication. In order to create customized content, however, users mayneed specialized skills or access to specialized software tools that areout of reach to many users. It is with respect to these and otherconsiderations that the present improvements are needed.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some novel embodiments described herein. This summaryis not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identifykey/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for animatingstickers with sound. Some embodiments are particularly directed totechniques for animating stickers with sound while the sound is beingreceived. In one embodiment, for example, a method may include receivinga first control directive to select an image representing a set ofanimation frames in a user interface view of an application executing ona first mobile device; receiving a second control directive to beginreceiving audio input in the user interface view; receiving audio inputby the first mobile device; animating the image according to an energylevel of the audio input using the animation frames; and presenting theanimated image concurrently with receiving the audio input. Otherembodiments are described and claimed.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects are described herein in connection with thefollowing description and the annexed drawings. These aspects areindicative of the various ways in which the principles disclosed hereincan be practiced and all aspects and equivalents thereof are intended tobe within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other advantages andnovel features will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an execution system for securingdelivery of an animated message.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a mobile device for the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a message application component forthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a messaging system for the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of an image set for the system of FIG.1.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a mapping of energy level to imagesfor the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a message flow for the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a second message flow for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a third message flow for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram of a user interface for the system of FIG.1.

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram of a second user interface for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of a third user interface for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram of a fourth user interface for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a centralized system for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of a distributed system for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow for the system of FIG.1.

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment of a second logic flow for the systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 18 illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture.

FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment of a communications architecture.

FIG. 20 illustrates an embodiment of a device for use in a multicarrierOFDM system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for animatingimages, referred to herein as stickers, with sound. Some embodiments areparticularly directed to techniques for animating a sticker while thesound is being produced and received, such that the animation appears tocoincide with the sound. The animated sticker may be saved and may besent to others as a message. A sticker may be a visual representation,such as a graphical user interface element (e.g., an object, icon,image, picture, etc.).

The operator of a mobile computing device may select a sticker foranimation in an animation application, and may begin speaking. While theoperator is speaking, the audio input of the speech is received andanalyzed. The energy level of the audio input may be measured and usedto select various animation frames to output in sequence to create theanimation. The energy level measurements and animation frame selectionand output may occur quickly enough that the animation appears to thehuman operator to coincide with the speech. This allows the operator tosee the animation right away while they are speaking, and to createcustomized animated stickers that can be saved and/or sent to others,without needing any animation expertise on the part of the operator.

With general reference to notations and nomenclature used herein, thedetailed descriptions which follow may be presented in terms of programprocedures executed on a computer or network of computers. Theseprocedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations arethose requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical,magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to thesesignals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,or the like. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similarterms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities andare merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of one or more embodiments.Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines forperforming operations of various embodiments include general purposedigital computers or similar devices.

Various embodiments also relate to an apparatus or systems forperforming these operations. This apparatus may be specially constructedfor the required purpose or it may comprise a general purpose computeras selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. The procedures presented herein are not inherently relatedto a particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposemachines may be used with programs written in accordance with theteachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a morespecialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The requiredstructure for a variety of these machines will appear from thedescription given.

Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numeralsare used to refer to like elements throughout. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It maybe evident, however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced withoutthese specific details. In other instances, well known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate adescription thereof. The intention is to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives consistent with the claimed subjectmatter.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram for an animated messaging system 100for communicating using animated stickers. In one embodiment, the system100 may comprise a computer-implemented system 100 having a mobiledevice 110 operated by a sender, and a remote messaging client 150executing on a mobile device operated by a recipient, each comprisingone or more components. Although the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 has alimited number of elements in a certain topology, it may be appreciatedthat the system 100 may include more or fewer elements in alternatetopologies as desired for a given implementation. As shown in FIG. 1,the sender and the recipient may be carrying out a messagingconversation with the exchange of at least one animated message 140.

A mobile device 110 may be any mobile electronic device capable of, atleast, receiving audio data and/or recording audio data from amicrophone, outputting audio data to the sender, and communicating withother devices to exchange data and instructions over a network. Themobile device 110 may communicate with other devices using wirelesstransmissions to exchange network traffic. Exchanging network traffic,such as may be included in the exchange of an animated message 140, maycomprise transmitting and receiving network traffic via a networkinterface controller (NIC). A NIC comprises a hardware componentconnecting a computer device, such as mobile device 110, to a computernetwork. The NIC may be associated with a software network interfaceempowering software applications to access and use the NIC. Networktraffic may be received over the computer network as signals transmittedover data links. The network traffic may be received by capturing thesesignals and interpreting them. The NIC may receive network traffic overthe computer network and transfer the network traffic to memory storageaccessible to software applications using a network interfaceapplication programming interface (API).

The mobile device 110 may perform various operations using network dataaccessed over a network. The mobile device 110 may access a cellularsystem 130 using cellular signals 135. The cellular system 130 may be acellular network including data access, the cellular system 130 providedby a cellular provider with which the user of the mobile device 110 hasa service contract, the service contract for cellular data service tothe mobile device 110. The mobile device 110 may use the cellular system130 to access the public Internet 160 for interacting with one or moreother devices.

The mobile device 110 may access one or more Wi-Fi access points 120using Wi-Fi signals 145. Wi-Fi access points 120 may be provided by aplurality of different operators. Some of the Wi-Fi access points 120may be personal in nature, such as a home Wi-Fi network operated by theuser of mobile device 110 based on a domestic Internet connection. Someof the Wi-Fi access points 120 may be free of charge or provided as acomplimentary portion of a service, such as free Wi-Fi service in coffeeshops, hotels, and other public accommodations. The mobile device 110may use Wi-Fi access points 120 to access the public Internet 160 forinteracting with one or more other devices. The dashed line between theInternet 160 and mobile device 110 indicates that an animated message140 may be exchanged with other devices ultimately using the Internet160, with one of the cellular system 130 and Wi-Fi access point 120acting as the medium to access the Internet 160.

The system 100 may also include a remote messaging client 150. Theremote messaging client 150 may be software and/or a combination ofsoftware and hardware operating on any electronic device capable ofsending and receiving an animated message 140 to and from the mobiledevice 110. The remote messaging client 150 may operate on a mobiledevice such as a smartphone or tablet computer, or may be a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, or a telephone system with messagingcapability.

The remote messaging client 150 may provide messaging operations in anyof a variety of ways. The remote messaging client 150 may be, forexample, and without limitation, an electronic mail application, ashort-message-service (SMS) message application, amultimedia-message-service (MMS) message application, a groupcommunication application, a telephone voicemail system application, avideo-communication application, and so forth. The remote messagingclient 150 may accept an address for a recipient, such as an e-mailaddress, a chat handle, a telephone number, a user name within a socialnetwork service, and so forth.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile device 200 and messagingserver 220 for the system 100. The mobile device 200 may be anembodiment of mobile device 110. The mobile device 200 may includevarious hardware components and software components. The hardwarecomponents may include various audio output components 202, a camera204, a microphone 206, a display component 208, and a touch sensitiveinterface 210. Other hardware components may also be included, such asvarious other input components, e.g. a keyboard or keypad, as well as aglobal positioning system (GPS) component, an altimeter, and so forth.

The audio output components 202 may include any components operative tooutput sound waves, such as an earpiece speaker, a loudspeaker, and/oran audio-out connection. The audio output components 202 may includehardware and/or software that converts between analog and digital sounddata.

The camera 204 may be a camera integrated into the mobile device 200that can take digital photographs through a lens and store the digitalphotos. In some embodiments, the camera 204 may use the displaycomponent 216 to display the scene that will be photographed, and todisplay stored photos.

The microphone 206 may be any device capable of receiving sound waves,e.g. spoken by a human operator, and converting the received sound wavesinto electrical signals and/or data that can be stored and transmittedto other devices. The microphone 206 may be integrated into the mobiledevice 200, or may be an external microphone coupled to the mobiledevice 200 wirelessly or through an external wired connection. Themicrophone 206 may be for example, a component of a head-set, earpiece,or other hands-free communication device that communicates with themobile device 200 via a short-range signal technology such as BLUETOOTH®technology. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The display component 208 may include any interface components capableof presenting visual information to the sender, such as, but not limitedto, a screen for visual output.

The touch sensitive interface 210 may include a surface that detectstouch from, for example, a human finger or a stylus, and converts thetouch into a command directive. Various touch gestures that may bedetected may include, for example, a single tap, a double tap, acircling gesture, a sliding gesture, a dragging gesture, amultiple-finger gesture, and so forth. The mapping of a touch gesture toa control directive may be dependent on the application operating on themobile device 200 when the touch is detected, or may be independent ofany application. In some embodiments, the display component 208 and thetouch sensitive interface 210 may be integrated into one touch sensitivedisplay screen.

The mobile device 200 may further include a storage component 214 in theform of one or more computer-readable storage media capable of storingdata and instructions for the functions of software, such as a messageapplication component 230, an animation application component 250, andan operating system 290. As used herein, “computer-readable storagemedium” is not intended to include carrier waves, or propagatingelectromagnetic or optical signals.

The mobile device 200 may include various software components, such as amessage application component 230 and an animation application component250. The message application component 230 may comprise instructionsthat when executed by a processing circuit (not shown) cause the mobiledevice 200 to perform the operations of the message applicationcomponent 230 as will be described herein. Generally, the messageapplication component 230 may be provided on the mobile device 200 atthe time of purchase, or may installed by the sender, and may enable thecreation, communication, and playback of messages in a variety offormats, including, but not limited to, animated stickers, audiomessages, text, and video.

The message application component 230 may allow the sender tocommunicate with others, e.g. with a recipient, by sending and receivingmessages, including animated messages 140, in a manner analogous to textmessaging. The message application component 230 may be a messageapplication that uses alphanumeric text, such as a simple messageservice (SMS) application, or a social network application that allowsits members to communicate with messages.

The animation application component 250 may display visualrepresentations of sticker sets that can be selected by the sender foranimation. A visual representation may be one of the images within asticker set. The animation application component 250 may receive audiodata, for example, as the operator speaks into a microphone. Theanimation application component 250 may analyze the energy levels of thereceived audio data as it is received. The images within a selectedsticker set may be mapped to the energy levels and displayedsequentially while the audio data is received. In an embodiment, thismapping and displaying may be done apparently in real-time. That is, thesticker may appear, to a human operator, to move in synchronization withthe energy levels of the incoming audio data. The combination of asequence of images in a sticker set and audio data may be referred toherein as an animated sticker.

The animation application component 250 may allow a user to select oneor more animated stickers to send as an animated message 140 via themessage application component 230. An animated message 140 may includethe data of the recorded audio, e.g. a data file of the audio data, anda selected sticker set. In some embodiments, the animated message 140may include each image file in sequence as mapped to the energy levelsof the associated audio data. In other embodiments, the sequence ofimages may be represented by identifiers of the images, which can beused by an animation server or a remote messaging client to re-createthe animation remotely, without having to transmit each image file.

For example, the operator may speak, which may be recorded by themicrophone 206. The recorded speech may be mapped to a set of images ina sticker set resulting in an animated message 140, which may betransmitted to the remote messaging client 150. The remote messagingclient 150 may present the animated message 140, and may respond in kindusing the remote messaging client 150.

The mobile device 200 may store some sticker sets on the device in thelocal sticker sets 212, e.g. in the storage component 214. A sticker set212 may be a collection of related static images, referred to asanimation frames, that, when presented at a particular frame rate on adisplay, appear as an animated image. The local sticker sets 212 mayinclude animated stickers that were previously created and/or received,and/or sticker sets that have not been animated.

Accordingly, the message application component 230 and the animationapplication component 250 may operate to allow the user of the mobiledevice 200 to compose and/or record messages, e.g. an animated message140, to send the message to a recipient, as well as to receive messagesfrom others and present the animated messages to the user. In someembodiments, the message application component 230 and the animationapplication component 250 may be separate stand-alone applications. Inother embodiments, the message application component 230 may include theanimation application component 250. The animation application component250 will be described in greater detail with respect to FIG. 3.

The mobile device 200 may include a communications component 240. Thecommunications component 240 may include one or more hardware and/orsoftware components that allow the transmission and receiving of signalsby the mobile device 200. The communications component 240 may includethe hardware and/or instructions to communicate on a data network, suchas over a long-term evolution (LTE) network. The communicationscomponent 240 may include the hardware and/or instructions tocommunicate in a shorter-range network, such as by Wi-Fi or byBLUETOOTH®. The communications component 240 may include the hardwareand/or instructions to communicate on a cellular telephone network, suchas cellular system 130. The communications component 240 may supportpeer-to-peer network connections, and may be able to detect when othermobile devices are available for a peer-to-peer connection.

The system 100 may also include one or more servers 220. The server 220may include any computing device capable of communication with othercomputing devices such as mobile device 110 and remote messaging client150 over a network to exchange data and instructions. The server 220 maybe embodied in a single device or with multiple devices.

The server 220 may store sticker sets 222. A sticker set 222 may be acollection of related static images that, when presented at a particularframe rate on a display, appear as an animated image. The sticker sets222 may be available to all users of the animation applicationcomponent. Some of the sticker sets 222 may be provided free of chargeto the users, while others may have a fee associated with their use. Insome embodiments, some of the sticker sets 222 may already be associatedwith a particular audio recording, while others may be unassociated withany audio recordings.

The server 220 may include a message server component 224. The messageserver component 224 may provide message storage and transmissionoperations for the messaging service. The operations of the messageserver component 224 are described in greater detail with respect toFIG. 4 below.

The mobile device 200 as shown in FIG. 2 is an example and is notlimited to the components shown. More, fewer, or other components may beused to provide the described functionality. Additionally, some of thecomponents may be combined into other functional units without departingfrom the concepts herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an animation application component350 for the system 100. The animation application component 350 may bean embodiment of the animation application component 250. The animationapplication component 350 may include various functional components toperform the methods and operations described herein, such as, but notlimited to, a graphical user interface (GUI) generator 332, a stickerrecorder 334, an energy analyzer 336, and a sticker animator 338. More,fewer, or other components may be used to provide the describedfunctionality.

The GUI generator 332 may present various visual elements that conveyinformation to an operator of the device on which the animationapplication component 350 is executing. The visual components may alsoprovide functionality when selected with a control directive, such aswith a touch gesture.

In particular, the GUI generator 332 may present images representing asticker set of animation frames that the operator can select andanimate. The GUI generator 332 may receive a first control directive toselect an image and may receive a second control directive to beginrecording audio input. While the audio input is received, the GUIgenerator 332 may present an animated image created from the selectedsticker set of animation frames and the received audio input.

The sticker recorder 334 may receive audio input in response to thesecond control directive from a microphone, e.g. the microphone 206, andmay store the received audio input at least long enough to add therecorded audio to an animated message 140. The sticker recorder 334 mayalso be used to record and generate an audio file that can be made intoan animated message.

The energy analyzer 336 may measure an energy level of the audio input.The energy level measurements may be made periodically or may be madesubstantially continuously. At periodic intervals, the energy analyzer336 may determine a range of energy levels of previously received audioinput over a period from a first past time to a present time. Theperiodic interval may be related or tied to an animation frame rate, forexample and without limitation, 30 times per second, every tenth of asecond, every 50 milliseconds, and so forth. The period used todetermine the range of energy levels may be the same as the energy levelmeasurements period or may be different. The energy level of the audioinput may be measured in decibels, watts, or any unit that allows adifferentiation between perceived “loud” and “quiet” sounds.

The energy analyzer 336 may divide the determined range of energy levelsinto a plurality of sub-ranges, and determine which sub-rangecorresponds to the measured energy level of the present audio input. Insome embodiments, the energy analyzer 336 may normalize the determinedrange.

The sticker animator 338 may animate the selected image according to theenergy levels of the audio input. The animation may occur concurrentlythe receiving of the audio input in such a way as to appear, to a humanoperator, that the image is moving in conjunction with the audio input.For example, the sticker animator 338 may map each animation frame inthe set of animation frames to a different one of the sub-ranges. For adetermined sub-range of the present audio input, the sticker animator338 may select the animation frame that is mapped to the determinedsub-range for output. The GUI generator 332 may present, at eachperiodic interval, the selected animated image in a sequence of selectedanimation frames concurrently with output of the present audio input. Insome embodiments, the sticker animator 338 may be able to applypost-animation effects such as sound or voice distortion, backgroundmusic, or other alterations to the audio input. Alternatively, or inaddition, the post-animation effects may be provided by a remote server,such as server 220.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a plurality of servers implementingvarious functions of a messaging system 400. It will be appreciated thatdifferent distributions of work and functions may be used in variousembodiments of a messaging system 400. The messaging system 400 may bean embodiment of the message server component 224.

The messaging system 400 may comprise a domain name front end 410. Thedomain name front end 410 may be assigned one or more domain namesassociated with the messaging system 400 in a domain name system (DNS).The domain name front end 410 may receive incoming connections anddistribute the connections to servers providing various messagingservices.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more chat servers 414. Thechat servers 414 may comprise front-end servers for receiving andtransmitting user-to-user messaging updates such as chat messages andincluding animated messages 140. Incoming connections may be assigned tothe chat servers 414 by the domain name front end 410 based on workloadbalancing.

The messaging system 400 may comprise backend servers 430. The backendservers 430 may perform specialized tasks in the support of the chatoperations of the front-end chat servers 414. A plurality of differenttypes of backend servers 430 may be used. It will be appreciated thatthe assignment of types of tasks to different backend serves 430 mayvary in different embodiments. In some embodiments some of the back-endservices provided by dedicated servers may be combined onto a singleserver or a set of servers each performing multiple tasks dividedbetween different servers in the embodiment described herein. Similarly,in some embodiments tasks of some of dedicated back-end serversdescribed herein may be divided between different servers of differentserver groups.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more offline storageservers 431. The one or more offline storage servers 431 may storemessaging content for currently-offline messaging endpoints in hold forwhen the messaging endpoints reconnect.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more animation servers 432.The one or more animation servers 432 may include one or more stickersets for use by message application components 330. Sticker sets mayinclude, for any particular set, two or more images, also referred to asanimation frames. A sticker set may be represented by one of the imagesin the set. The animation servers 432 may present a representative imagefor a sticker set in an interface of a message application component toallow an operator to select a sticker set for animation.

The one or more animation servers 432 may allow users of the messagingsystem 400 to create their own animated stickers, and to send theanimated sticker to other users. In some embodiments, the animationservers 432 may perform some or all of the animation operations. Forexample, the animation servers 432 may receive a selection of a stickerset, the recorded audio data, and the analyzed energy data, and may mapthe images in the sticker set to the audio data. The audio data and themapped sequence of images may be saved as an animated sticker.

In some embodiments, the animation servers 432 may provide enhancementsto an animated sticker. For example, the animation servers 432 maymodify an animated sticker with audio distortion effects and/or withimage distortion effects. An audio distortion effect may include, forexample, changing the pitch or frequency of the audio data, adding soundeffects or music, or any other change to the audio portion of ananimated sticker. Image distortion effects may include, for example,changing colors or apparent lighting, adding a flashing or strobeeffect, and so forth.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more presence servers 433.The one or more presence servers 433 may maintain presence informationfor the messaging system 400. Presence information may correspond touser-specific information indicating whether or not a given user has anonline messaging endpoint and is available for chatting, has an onlinemessaging endpoint but is currently away from it, does not have anonline messaging endpoint, and any other presence state.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more push storage servers434. The one or more push storage servers 434 may cache push requestsand transmit the push requests to messaging endpoints. Push requests maybe used to wake messaging endpoints, to notify messaging endpoints thata messaging update is available, and to otherwise performserver-side-driven interactions with messaging endpoints.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more group servers 434. Theone or more group servers 434 may maintain lists of groups, add users togroups, remove users from groups, and perform the reception, caching,and forwarding of group chat messages.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more last seen informationservers 436. The one or more last seen information servers 436 mayreceive, store, and maintain information indicating the last seenlocation, status, messaging endpoint, and other elements of a user'slast seen connection to the messaging system 400.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more key servers 437. Theone or more key servers 437 may host public keys for public/private keyencrypted communication.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more profile photo servers438. The one or more profile photo servers 438 may store and makeavailable for retrieval profile photos for the plurality of users of themessaging system 400.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more multimedia servers439. The one or more multimedia servers 439 may store multimedia (e.g.,images, video, audio) in transit between messaging endpoints, andmultimedia cached for offline endpoints, and may perform transcoding ofmultimedia.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more payment servers 441.The one or more payment servers 441 may process payments from users.Payments may be received, for example, when one or more animatedstickers are purchased, and/or when a connection to a cellular datanetwork is purchased. The one or more payment servers 441 may connect toexternal third-party servers for the performance of payments.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more registration servers442. The one or more registration servers 442 may register new users ofthe messaging system 400.

The messaging system 400 may comprise one or more voice relay servers443. The one or more voice relay servers 443 may relayvoice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) voice communication betweenmessaging endpoints for the performance of VoIP calls.

The messaging system 400 may include an authorization server (or othersuitable component(s)) that allows users to opt in to or opt out ofhaving their actions logged by the animated messaging system 100 orshared with other systems (e.g., third-party systems), for example, bysetting appropriate privacy settings. A privacy setting of a user maydetermine what information associated with the user may be logged, howinformation associated with the user may be logged, when informationassociated with the user may be logged, who may log informationassociated with the user, whom information associated with the user maybe shared with, and for what purposes information associated with theuser may be logged or shared. Authorization servers or otherauthorization components may be used to enforce one or more privacysettings of the users of the animated messaging system 100 and otherelements of a social-networking system through blocking, data hashing,anonymization, or other suitable techniques as appropriate.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a set of animation frames 500 in asticker set for the system of FIG. 1. A set of animation frames maycomprise two or more static images that, when presented in succession ata specific frame rate on a display, appear to be a moving image, alsoreferred to herein as an animated image or animated sticker. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, a set of animation frames may include fourimages: image 510, image 520, image 530, and image 540. More or fewerimages may be used in a set of animation frames.

Each image may differ in some respect from the other images in the set.For example, in the set of animation frames 500, the images differ in asize of a mouth opening. Images in a set of animation frames may vary inother ways, for example, and without limitation, in a position within aframe border, in eye size opening, in facial expression, or any othervariations that create animation when presented at a frame rate. Imagesin a set of animation frames may vary in multiple ways simultaneously,for example, both the size of the mouth opening and the size of the eyeopening may change from image to image.

Each sticker set may have an associated identifier to distinguish itfrom other sticker sets available from a messaging service. Each imagein a sticker set may have an associated identifier. The identifier maybe unique within the sticker set, or may be unique among all of thesticker sets available through a messaging service. Additionally, eachimage in the sticker set may include information that indicates whetherit should be mapped to a lower energy level or a higher energy level.The images within a sticker set may, accordingly, have an orderingrelative to each other in the energy levels that they represent.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a mapping 600 of energy level toimages for the system of FIG. 1. The mapping 600 illustrates asimplified animation of the animation frames shown in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 6, energy level measurements 610, 620, 630 and 640 areshown on a graph. Time is represented by the X-axis, and energy level isrepresented by the Y-axis. Assume, for the purpose of demonstration,that a range of energy levels was determined from previously receivedrecent audio input, e.g. from the past quarter of a second. The range ofenergy levels is represented as the energy level range betweenhorizontal lines 604-1 and 604-5. Because there are four animationframes in the selected sticker set, the range is divided into foursub-ranges, represented as the range between the following pairs ofhorizontal lines: 604-1 to 604-2 (range A), 604-2 to 604-3 (range B),604-3 to 604-4 (range C), and 604-4 to 604-5 (range D).

Periodic intervals are represented by vertical lines 602-1, 602-2,602-3, and 602-4. At each periodic interval, the energy analyzer 336 maymeasure the energy level of the current audio input. The stickeranimator 338 may receive the measured energy level 610 from the energyanalyzer 336, and may determine in which of the four sub-ranges themeasured energy level 610 falls. Alternatively, the energy analyzer 336may provide the sub-range to the sticker animator 338. In this example,the measured energy level 610 falls in sub-range C.

The sticker animator 338 has mapped the four images 510, 520, 530, and540 to the four sub-ranges A, B, C, and D, respectively. Upon thedetermination that the measured energy level 610 is in sub-range C, thesticker animator 338 selects image 530 as the next image in theanimation sequence. The image 530 may be output by the GUI generator332. The image 530, or an identifier for image 530, may be stored in asequence for later output.

The process may repeat at periodic interval 602-2. At this interval, themeasured energy level 620 is lower, and falls in sub-range A. Image 510is selected for output because image 510 is mapped to sub-range A.

The process may repeat at periodic interval 602-3. At this interval, themeasured energy level 630 is higher, and falls in sub-range D. Image 540is selected for output because image 540 is mapped to sub-range D.

The process may repeat at periodic interval 602-4. At this interval, themeasured energy level 640 is lower, and falls in sub-range B. Image 520is selected for output because image 520 is mapped to sub-range B.

When the sequence of images 530, 510, 540, and 520 are output at asuitable frame rate, the mouth size of the image appears to the humanoperator to open larger or smaller in conjunction with a change in theloudness of the audio input.

While the illustrated example includes a sticker set having fouranimation frames, and uses four sub-ranges, more or fewer animationframes and sub-ranges may be used.

FIG. 7 illustrates a message flow diagram 700 for the system 100. Themessage flow 700 may represent messages communicated among thecomponents of system 100. As used in FIG. 7, a “message” may includedata and/or instructions communicated from one component to another, aswell as internal functions within a component. In particular, themessage flow 700 may occur among the components of the mobile device110, 200, and more particularly, among the components of the animationapplication component 350.

In message flow 700, time flows from the top of the diagram toward thebottom. Message flow 700 may represent messages communicated when anoperator creates an animated sticker using mobile device 110.

The message flow 700 begins when the GUI generator 332 presents stickerimages, in message 702. The GUI generator 332 may present one or morestatic images in a section of the display component, where each staticimage represents a different sticker set. The static image may be one ofthe animation frames in the sticker set.

The message flow 700 continues when the GUI generator 332 receives acontrol directive selecting a sticker image, in message 704. Theoperator may, for example, touch a sticker image with a finger tip orstylus, use a spoken command to select a specific sticker image, or useany other available input mechanism to indicate a selection of onesticker image. The GUI generator 332 may update a UI view to show theselected sticker image, for example, in a larger size and/or in aseparate section of the display component.

The message flow 700 continues when the GUI generator 332 receives asecond control directive to begin recording audio input, in message 706.For example, the operator may select a “record” UI element. In someembodiments, the first control directive of message 704 may also causethe microphone to begin receiving and recording audio input, without asecond control directive.

The message flow 700 continues when the GUI generator 332 causes theenergy analyzer 336 to begin receiving the audio input, in message 708.In some embodiments, the energy analyzer 336 may automatically beginreceiving the audio input as soon as the microphone is active, while theanimation application component 350 is executing on the mobile device.

The message flow 700 continues as the energy analyzer 336 measures theaudio input to determine a range of energy levels, in message 710. Theenergy analyzer 336 may measure the energy level of audio input at acurrent time, and may store past measurements. The energy analyzer 336may, for example, store the last one second's worth of energy levelmeasurements. More or fewer energy level measurements may also bestored. In some embodiments, the energy analyzer 336 may only store ahighest and lowest measured energy level in order to determine the rangeof energy levels. The energy analyzer 336 may normalize the determinedrange, in order to make the high and low values consistent over the timeof the animation.

Determining the range of energy levels may also include dividing therange into two or more sub-ranges. The number of sub-ranges may matchthe number of animation frames in the selected sticker set.

The message flow 700 continues as the energy analyzer 336 provides themeasured energy levels to the sticker animator 338, in message 712. Theenergy level 336 may send the message 712 at periodic intervals, forexample, at a period that corresponds to a frame rate of the animation.The message 712 may also include information about the sub-ranges. Forexample, the message 712 may include the top and bottom energy levels ofeach sub-range, or may include an identification of which sub-range thecurrent energy level measurement falls into. Messages 710 and 712 mayrepeat until no more audio input is received.

The message flow 700 continues when the sticker animator 338 selects ananimation frame, in message 714. In some embodiments, the message 712may include an indication of a sub-range in the range of energy levelsthat a current energy level measurement falls into. In otherembodiments, the message 712 may include the energy level measurement.The sticker animator 338 may have a mapping of animation frames in theselected sticker set to the subranges of measured energy levels. Thesticker animator selects the animation frame that maps to the sub-rangeof the measured energy level provided in the message 712.

The message flow 700 continues when the sticker animator 338 providesthe selected animation frame to the GUI generator 332, in message 716.The sticker animator 338 may provide an identifier of which animationframe to present, or may provide the actual animation frame image fileto the GUI generator 332. The sticker animator 338 may also store asequence of selected animation frames in order to reproduce theanimation subsequently.

The message flow 700 continues when the GUI generator 332 presents theanimation frame, in message 718. The animation frame may be presentedvisually in a section of the display component.

The message flow 700 continues until a control directive is received toend receiving audio input, in message 720. The operator may, forexample, press a “stop” UI element, release a pressed “record” UIelement, slide a fingertip away from a “record” UI element, or simplystop speaking for a specified period of time.

The messages 708, 710, 712, 714, 716, and 718 are repeated until themessage 720 is received. Presentation of the animation frames in message718 may occur at a frame rate such that the animation appears to a humanobserver to be continuous smooth movement, rather than a series ofdistinct still images. The frame rate may be, for example and withoutlimitation, 18 frames per second (fps), 30 fps, 48 fps, or any otherrate that creates a continuous smooth movement visual effect.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a message flow 800 for the system100. 100. The message flow 800 may represent messages communicated amongthe components of system 100. As used in FIG. 8, a “message” may includedata and/or instructions communicated from one component to another, aswell as internal functions within a component, and is distinct from theanimated messages 140 sent from a sender to a recipient. In particular,the message flow 800 may occur among the components of the mobile device110, 200.

In message flow 800, time flows from the top of the diagram toward thebottom. Message flow 800 may represent messages communicated during amessage communication session where a sender selects an animated stickerto send. The message flow 800 assumes that the animation applicationcomponent 350 is executing on the mobile device 110, 200. The messageflow 800 may begin when the message flow 700 ends.

The message flow 800 begins when the animation application component 350presents an animated sticker, in message 802. For example, the animationapplication component 350 may present a static image representing theanimated sticker on a display component of the mobile device. A playbackUI element may be presented on or near the static image. Alternatively,presenting the animated sticker may include outputting the audio data toan audio output, and simultaneously presenting the animation frames onthe display component in the sequence specified by the animated stickerat a specified frame rate.

The message flow 800 continues when the animation application component350 presents options related to the animated sticker, in message 804.For example, the GUI generator 332 of the animation applicationcomponent 350 may present UI elements on the display component forvarious operations, including, but not limited to, saving the animatedsticker, deleting the animated sticker, sending the animated sticker asa message, or adding effects to the animated sticker.

The message flow 800 continues when the animation application component350 receives a control directive to send the animated sticker as ananimated message, in message 806. For example, the operator may touch a“send” UI element with a fingertip or stylus, may speak a “send” commandinto a microphone, or use any other input mechanism to select the “send”operation.

The message flow 800 continues when the animation application component350 instructs the message application component 230 to create ananimated message, in message 808. The message 808 may include a “newmessage” command, and may include links to one or more data files thatcomprise the animated sticker. The message 808 may alternatively includethe actual one or more data files that comprise the animated sticker.The one or more data files that comprise the animated sticker may be asingle data file that can be played analogously to a video file. Inother embodiments, the one or more data files may include a moredeconstructed version of the animated sticker comprising an audio file,the animation frames or identifiers for the animation frames, andsequence data that specifies an order in which to present the animationframes.

The message flow 800 continues when the message application component230 presents a message composition user interface, in message 810. Themessage composition UI may present, on the display component, UIelements for selecting a recipient, and/or for adding additional contentto the message, such as text. The embodiments are not limited to theseexamples.

The message flow 800 continues when the message application component230 receives message input, in message 812. The message input mayinclude one or more selected recipients, as well as any additionalcontent.

The message flow 800 continues when the message application component230 constructs the animated message, in message 814. The animatedmessage may be in the form of a data packet that includes fields to holdthe one or more data files that comprise the animated sticker and adestination for the animated message, e.g. a telephone number, networkaddress, e-mail address and so forth.

The message flow 800 continues when the message application component230 provides the animated message to the communications component 240 inmessage 816. In some embodiments, the message application component 230may pass the animated message to the communications component 240. Inother embodiments, the message application component 230 may store theanimated message and may provide a storage location to thecommunications component 240 to enable the communications component 240to retrieve the animated message. The embodiments are not limited tothese examples.

The message flow 800 continues when the communications component 240sends the animated message to the recipient, in message 818. Thecommunications component 240 may use any available data network to sendthe animated message.

FIG. 9 illustrates of a message flow 900 for the system 100. The messageflow 900 may represent messages communicated among the components ofsystem 100. As used in FIG. 9, a “message” may include data and/orinstructions communicated from one component to another, as well asinternal functions within a component, and is distinct from the animatedmessages 140 sent from a sender to a recipient.

In message flow 900, time flows from the top of the diagram toward thebottom. Message flow 900 may represent messages communicated during amessage communication session where an animated message is sent to andreceived by a mobile device. The message flow 900 assumes that theanimation application component 350 is executing on the mobile device110, 200.

The message flow 900 may begin when the remote messaging client 150sends an animated message 140 to the messaging system 400 in message902. The animated message 140 included in message 902 may include anaddress field, the audio component of the animated sticker, and theanimation frames or identifiers of the animation frames, along with asequence in which to present the animation frames. The message 902 mayalso include a request or command to apply one or more after effects tothe animated sticker.

The message flow 900 may continue when the messaging system 400 appliesany requested after effects, in message 904. For example, the messagingsystem 400 may alter one or more characteristics of the audio file, oradd sound effects to the audio data.

The message flow 900 may continue when the messaging system 400 storesthe animated message in message 906. Storing the animated message mayallow the intended recipient to retrieve the animated message at a latertime, for example, if the recipient is not online or otherwise connectedto the messaging system 400 when the animated message is sent.

The message flow 900 may continue when the messaging system 400 sends amessage notification to the remote messaging client 150, in message 908.The message 908 may cause the remote messaging client 150 to present anaudio and/or visual alert that an animated message is available for therecipient.

The message 908 may include a link or retrieval instruction that, whenselected, causes the remote messaging client 150 to request the animatedmessage in message 910.

The message flow 900 may continue when the messaging system 400 sendsthe animated message to the remote messaging client 150 in message 912.In some embodiments, the message 912 may include the animated sticker asa single data file. In other embodiments, the message 912 may include amore deconstructed version of the animated sticker comprising the audiofile, the animation frames or identifiers for the animation frames, andsequence data that specifies an order in which to present the animationframes.

In some embodiments, the message 912 may be sent without using thenotification process of messages 908 and 910.

The message flow 900 may continue when the remote messaging client 150presents the animated message, in message 914. In some embodiments, astatic image representing the animated sticker may be displayed near aplayback UI element.

The message flow 900 may continue when the remote messaging client 150receives a control directive selecting to play the received animatedsticker, in message 916. For example, the operator of the mobile device110, 200 may touch the playback UI element, or may speak a command, e.g.“play message” into the microphone 206.

The message flow 900 may continue when the remote messaging client 150presents the animated sticker, in message 918. Presenting the animatedsticker may comprise outputting the audio data to an audio output, andsimultaneously presenting the animation frames on a display component inthe sequence specified in the animated message at a specified framerate.

FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface (UI) 1000 for the system 100. UI1000 may be presented on a display component 1008 of mobile device 1010,which may be embodiments of display component 208 and mobile device 110,respectively. In the illustrated example, the UI 1000 is for ananimation application, such as for animation application component 250,350. The display component 1008 in the illustrated component may be atouch-sensitive screen.

The UI 1000 may represent a landing screen for the messaging app. The UI1000 may include one or more sections. For example, the UI 1000 maydivide the display area of display component 1008 into sections 1020,1030 and 1040. More, fewer or different sections may also be used.

Section 1020 may display a graphical representation 1022 of a selectedsticker for animation. Section 1030 may display one or more functionalUI elements that enable the creation of an animated sticker and/orsending a message. In the illustrated example, section 1030 displays arecord icon 1032. In some embodiments, the sender may touch or tap therecord icon 1032 to activate the microphone 1006, and then speak hismessage into the microphone 1006. As shown in FIG. 10, no animationoperations have occurred.

Section 1040 may display visual representations of sticker sets, such asrepresentation 1042. The sender may perform one or more touch gesturesusing his finger 1002 to select a representation for animation. Forexample, the sender may tap the representation 1042, or touch and dragthe representation 1042 to section 1020 to select it. If a differentsticker set is desired, the sender may select a different representationfrom section 1040. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 11 illustrates a user interface (UI) 1100. The UI 1100 may bepresented on a display component 1108 of mobile device 1110, which maybe embodiments of display component 208 and mobile device 110,respectively. The UI 1100 may be very similar to the UI 1000 and/or maybe the UI 1000 in a different state. For example, the sections 1120 and1130 may be analogous to sections 1020 and 1030, respectively. Therecord icon 1132 may be the same or analogous to the record icon 1032.

In the illustrated example, the operator of the mobile device 1110 hasbegun recording audio data to use in animating the selected sticker. Atimer UI element 1134 may show an elapsed time from the beginning of theaudio recording. While audio data is received, the animation frames thatmake up the selected sticker set are displayed according to a measuredenergy level of the audio data. The sequence of animation frames ispresented as animated sticker 1124. The operator of the mobile device1110 can view, as he or she speaks, the animation of the sticker setaccording to the audio data being received. In an embodiment, therecording of audio data and the animation of the sticker set may endwhen the operator generates a control directive to stop. For example,the operator may release the record icon 1132, drag a finger or stylusaway from the record icon 1132, tap a separate “stop” UI element (notshown), stop speaking for a predetermined period of time, or any othermethod of indicating that the recording and animating is to stop.

FIG. 12 illustrates a user interface (UI) 1200. The UI 1200 may bepresented on a display component 1208 of mobile device 1210, which maybe embodiments of display component 208 and mobile device 110,respectively. In the illustrated example, the UI 1200 is for ananimation application, such as for animation application component 250,350. The UI 1200 may reflect a change to the UI 1100 after recording andanimating have stopped.

For example, the UI 1200 may present, in section 1220, a staticgraphical representation of the animated sticker with a playback UIelement 1226 that, when selected, presents the animated sticker to theoperator, for example, as a preview.

The UI 1200 may provide various options in the section 1230. Forexample, the operator of the mobile device 1210 may use a touch gestureor other control directive to select a send UI element 1236. A selectionof the send UI element 1236 may open an addressing UI component to allowthe operator to select one or more recipients. In some embodiments, whenthe operator is already in a communication session with another user,the send UI element 1236 may automatically send the animated sticker asa message to the other user

The operator of the mobile device 1210 may use a touch gesture or othercontrol directive to select an effects UI element 1238. A selection ofthe effects UI element 1238 may open a selection dialog that allows theoperator to select one or more after-effects to apply to the animatedsticker, for example, various voice distortion effects.

In addition, the operator may save the animated sticker to a storagemedium. A stored animated sticker may be viewed or sent later. Theoperator may delete the animated sticker, removing the audio data andany information about the particular sequence of animation frames usedin the animation. The sticker set itself may be retained in the localsticker sets 212.

FIG. 13 illustrates a user interface (UI) 1300. The UI 1300 may bepresented on a display component 1308 of mobile device 1310, which maybe embodiments of display component 208 and mobile device 110 or 150,respectively. In the illustrated example, the UI 1300 is for a messagingapp, such as for the messaging application component 230.

The UI 1300 may divide the display component 1308 into several sections.For example, the display component 1308 may be divided into section 1320and section 1330. More, fewer or other sections may be used.

Section 1320 may be used to present the messages exchanged between theoperator 1302 of the mobile device 1310 and another device, in thisexample, a device operated by “Anne.” In the illustrated example, thepresented messages include messages 1350-1, 1350-2, and 1350-3.

The section 1330 may provide a message composition area, where theoperator 1302 may input a touch gesture control directive to input textfor a message. The touch gesture control directive may, for example,bring up a touch-sensitive keyboard display for text entry, or mayactivate a microphone for speech-to-text entry, or may accept input froma stylus and perform optical character recognition on handwriting fromthe stylus.

As shown, the messages 1350-1 and 1350-2 are conventional text messages.Messages may also include, for example, and without limitation, audiomessages, images, video clips, links to web pages, and so forth. Themessage 1350-3 includes an animated sticker, sent by Anne to the device1310. The message 1350-3 may be displayed with an indication that themessage is not static, for example, with a “play” UI element. Whenoperated on by the operator 1302, the animated message may be playedwithin the section 1320.

FIG. 14 illustrates a centralized system 1400. The centralized system1400 may implement some or all of the structure and/or operations forthe system 100 for securing delivery of an animated message in a singlecomputing entity, such as entirely within a single device 1420.

The device 1420 may comprise any electronic device capable of receiving,processing, and sending information, and may be an embodiment of amobile device, e.g. mobile device 110 or 200. Examples of an electronicdevice may include without limitation an ultra-mobile device, a mobiledevice, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile computing device, asmart phone, a telephone, a digital telephone, a cellular telephone,eBook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messagingdevice, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, aweb server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, amini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a networkappliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics,programmable consumer electronics, game devices, television, digitaltelevision, set top box, wireless access point, base station, subscriberstation, mobile subscriber center, radio network controller, router,hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine, or combination thereof. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

The device 1420 may execute processing operations or logic for thesystem 100 using a processing component 1430. The processing component1430 may comprise various hardware elements, software elements, or acombination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include devices,logic devices, components, processors, microprocessors, circuits,processor circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors,capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD),digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA),memory units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software elements mayinclude software components, programs, applications, computer programs,application programs, system programs, software development programs,machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware,software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures,software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instructionsets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer codesegments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof.Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware elementsand/or software elements may vary in accordance with any number offactors, such as desired computational rate, power levels, heattolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates, output datarates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design or performanceconstraints, as desired for a given implementation.

The device 1420 may execute communications operations or logic for thesystem 100 using communications component 1440. The communicationscomponent 1440 may implement any well-known communications techniquesand protocols, such as techniques suitable for use with packet-switchednetworks (e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private networkssuch as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), circuit-switched networks(e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a combination ofpacket-switched networks and circuit-switched networks (with suitablegateways and translators). The communications component 1440 may includevarious types of standard communication elements, such as one or morecommunications interfaces, network interfaces, network interface cards(NIC), radios, wireless transmitters/receivers (transceivers), wiredand/or wireless communication media, physical connectors, and so forth.By way of example, and not limitation, communication media 1412 includewired communications media and wireless communications media. Examplesof wired communications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads,printed circuit boards (PCB), backplanes, switch fabrics, semiconductormaterial, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, a propagatedsignal, and so forth. Examples of wireless communications media mayinclude acoustic, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, infrared and otherwireless media.

The device 1420 may communicate with other devices 1450 over acommunications media 1442 using communications signals 1444 via thecommunications component 1440. The devices 1450 may be internal orexternal to the device 1420 as desired for a given implementation.

The device 1420 may include within it the animation applicationcomponent 250. The device 1420 may include within it various inputcomponents 1412, which may include keyboards, touch-sensitiveinterfaces, microphones, cameras, and the like, for example, as shown inFIG. 2. The device 1420 may include within it various output components1414, which may include speakers, displays, and the like, for example asshown in FIG. 2. Device 1420 may be operative to carry out the tasks ofthese elements using processing component 1430 and communicationscomponent 1440. Devices 1450 may comprise any of devices 110 or 150, thesignals 1414 over media 1412 comprising the interactions between thedevice 1420 and its elements and these respective devices.

FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of a distributed system 1500. Thedistributed system 1500 may distribute portions of the structure and/oroperations for the system 100 across multiple computing entities.Examples of distributed system 1500 may include without limitation aclient-server architecture, a 3-tier architecture, an N-tierarchitecture, a tightly-coupled or clustered architecture, apeer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture, a shareddatabase architecture, and other types of distributed systems. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

The distributed system 1500 may comprise a message server device 1520.In general, the message server device 1520 may be similar to the device1420 as described with reference to FIG. 14. For instance, the messageserver device 1520 may comprise, a processing component 1530 and acommunications component 1540, which are the same or similar to theprocessing component 1430 and the communications component 1440,respectively, as described with reference to FIG. 14. In anotherexample, the message server device 1520 may communicate over acommunications media 1512 using communications signals 1514 via thecommunications components 1540.

The message server device 1520 may comprise or employ one or more serverprograms that operate to perform various methodologies in accordancewith the described embodiments. For example, message server device 1520may implement the message server component 224, as well as some or allof the components of the animation application component 350. It will beappreciated the server device 1520—or any of the server devicesdiscussed herein—may itself comprise multiple servers.

Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of exemplarymethodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosedarchitecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the oneor more methodologies shown herein, for example, in the form of a flowchart or flow diagram, are shown and described as a series of acts, itis to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are notlimited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith,occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from thatshown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art willunderstand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively berepresented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in astate diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology maybe required for a novel implementation.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow 1600 for the system100. The logic flow 1600 may be representative of some or all of theoperations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. Theoperations of the logic flow 1600 may be performed by an animationapplication component 250 on a mobile device 110.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the logic flow 1600 maybe operative at block 1602 to receive a first control directiveselecting an image to animate. For example, the GUI generator 332 maypresent one or more images that represent sticker sets on a displaycomponent, and may receive a selection by the operator via a controldirective. When the animation frames of the selected image are not inthe local storage, the animation application component may retrieve theset of animation frames from a remote storage, e.g. from the server 220.

The logic flow 1600 may be operative at block 1604 to receive a secondcontrol directive to start recording audio input. For example, the GUIgenerator 332 may present a UI element that, when operated on with acontrol directive, directs the microphone to receive audio input, andthe sticker recorder 334 to record the audio input. In some embodiments,the first and second control directives may be combined into a singlecontrol directive that both selects an image and starts receiving andrecording audio input.

The logic flow 1600 may be operative at block 1606 to receive audioinput, responsive to the second control directive. For example, thesticker recorder 334 may receive audio input from the microphone. Theenergy analyzer 336 may also receive the audio input, either directlyfrom the microphone or from the sticker recorder 334. In someembodiments, the audio input may be received from an audio data file,e.g. from previously recorded audio input.

The logic flow 1600 may be operative at block 1608 to animate theselected image according to an energy level of the received audio input.For example, the sticker animator 338 selects animation frames in theselected sticker set to output based on the energy level of the receivedaudio input. The animation frames in the sticker set may be mapped tosub-ranges of a range of measured energy levels, such that an measuredenergy level in one sub-range will cause the animation frame mapped tothat sub-range to be output. The sequence of animation frames may bestored, along with the received audio input, as an animated sticker,which may be played on demand at later times. An embodiment of the block1608 is described with respect to FIG. 17.

The logic flow 1600 may be operative at block 1610 to present theanimated image on a display. The block 1610 may occur simultaneouslywith the block 1608 by presenting the selected animation frames in thesequence. The animated image may appear, to the human observer, to beanimated according to the audio input as the audio input is received.For example, if the selected sticker set includes a representation of aface, with animation frames showing different sized mouth openings, theanimated image may appear to open the mouth to different sizes accordingto how loudly the speaker or source of audio input is currentlyspeaking.

The logic flow 1600 may be operative at block 1612 to determine whethera control directive has been received to stop receiving audio input.When no such control directive has been received, the logic flow 1600may return to the block 1606.

The logic flow 1600 may be operative at block 1614 to presentpost-animation options, when the control directive to stop receivingaudio input is received. For example, the options may include saving theanimated sticker, deleting the animated sticker, sending the animatedsticker as a message, and/or applying after-effects to the animatedsticker.

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow 1700 for the system100. The logic flow 1700 may be representative of some or all of theoperations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. Theoperations of the logic flow 1700 may be performed by the mobile device110 when an audio message is received by the mobile device. Inparticular, the logic flow 1700 may represent an embodiment of the block1608 from the logic flow 1600.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 17, the logic flow 1700 maybegin at block 1702. In block 1702, the energy level of the currentaudio input may be measured. For example, the energy analyzer 336 maymeasure the energy level of audio input at a current time, and may storepast measurements. The energy level of the audio input may be measuredat periodic intervals, or continuously.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1704 to determine a rangeof energy levels of previously received audio input. The range may bedetermined as the range of energy values between a highest energy leveland a lowest energy level in the selected previously received audioinput. The energy analyzer 336 may, for example, determine the rangefrom the previous one second's worth of energy level measurements, orfrom the last quarter of a second. The energy analyzer 336 may normalizethe determined range, in order to make the high and low valuesconsistent over the time of the animation.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1706 to divide the rangeinto a plurality of sub-ranges. Determining the range of energy levelsmay also include dividing the range into two or more sub-ranges. Thenumber of sub-ranges may match the number of animation frames in theselected sticker set. When the determined range is normalized, thesub-ranges may be created once for the animation. When the determinedrange is not normalized, the range may need to be re-determined atperiodic intervals, and the sub-ranges may need to be re-determined aswell.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1708 to map each animationframe to a different sub-range. For example, a sticker set comprising aplurality of animation frames may arrange the animation frame in anordering that reflects a range of possible energy levels. For example,the lowest energy animation frame may be first in the ordering, followedby the animation frames for successively higher energy levels. Thesticker animator 338 may map each animation frame in the ordering to thesub-ranges in the same ordering of lowest to highest energy levels.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1710 to determine whichsub-range corresponds to the energy level of the present audio input.For example, the energy analyzer 336 or the sticker animator 338 mayselect the sub-range having high and low energy levels values thatinclude the energy level of the present audio input.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1712 to select ananimation frame that is mapped to the determined sub-range.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1714 to present theselected animation frame on a display. For example, the sticker animator338 may provide the selected animation frame, or an identifier of theselected animation frame to the GUI generator 332 to present on thedisplay component. On successive iterations of the logic flow 1700, thepresentation of the selected animation frame replaces a previouslypresented animation frame at a frame rate that creates the effect of amoving picture.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1716 to determine whetherthe control directive to stop receiving audio input has been received.When no such control directive has been received, the logic flow 1700may continue to the block 1720.

When the control directive to stop receiving audio input is received,the logic flow 1700 ends at block 1718. The result of the operations ofthe logic flow 1700 is an animated image, also referred to as ananimated sticker, that comprises a sequence of animation frames and theaudio input. When presented at a particular frame rate, the sequence ofanimation frames appears to be animated according to the audio input.The animated image may be stored as a single data file, or may be storedin separate files that can be used to generate the animation.

The logic flow 1700 may be operative at block 1720 to get the nextpresent audio input, when the control directive to stop receiving audioinput has not been received. The logic flow 1700 then repeats startingat block 1702. In embodiments where the range of energy levels isnormalized, blocks 1704, 1706, and 1708 may be skipped on subsequentiterations. In such an embodiment, the block 1702 may further includenormalizing the measured energy level of the present audio inputaccording to the same normalization used to determine the range.

FIG. 18 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture1800 suitable for implementing various embodiments as previouslydescribed. In one embodiment, the computing architecture 1800 maycomprise or be implemented as part of an electronic device. Examples ofan electronic device may include those described with reference to FIGS.14-15, among others. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used in this application, the terms “system” and “component” areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution, examples of which are provided by the exemplary computingarchitecture 1800. For example, a component can be, but is not limitedto being, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard diskdrive, multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storagemedium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a server and the server can be a component. One or more componentscan reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a componentcan be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. Further, components may be communicatively coupled to eachother by various types of communications media to coordinate operations.The coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directionalexchange of information. For instance, the components may communicateinformation in the form of signals communicated over the communicationsmedia. The information can be implemented as signals allocated tovarious signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal.Further embodiments, however, may alternatively employ data messages.Such data messages may be sent across various connections. Exemplaryconnections include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and businterfaces.

The computing architecture 1800 includes various common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power supplies, and so forth.The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by thecomputing architecture 1800.

As shown in FIG. 18, the computing architecture 1800 comprises aprocessing circuit 1804, a system memory 1806 and a system bus 1808. Theprocessing circuit 1804 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors, including without limitation an AMD® Athlon®, Duron® andOpteron® processors; ARM® application, embedded and secure processors;IBM® and Motorola® DragonBall® and PowerPC® processors; IBM and Sony®Cell processors; Intel® Celeron®, Core (2) Duo®, Itanium®, Pentium®,Xeon®, and XScale® processors; and similar processors. Dualmicroprocessors, multi-core processors, and other multi-processorarchitectures may also be employed as the processing circuit 1804.

The system bus 1808 provides an interface for system componentsincluding, but not limited to, the system memory 1806 to the processingcircuit 1804. The system bus 1808 can be any of several types of busstructure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or withouta memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of avariety of commercially available bus architectures. Interface adaptersmay connect to the system bus 1808 via a slot architecture. Example slotarchitectures may include without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port(AGP), Card Bus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA),Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.

The computing architecture 1800 may comprise or implement variousarticles of manufacture. An article of manufacture may comprise acomputer-readable storage medium to store logic. Examples of acomputer-readable storage medium may include any tangible media capableof storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatilememory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasablememory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples oflogic may include executable computer program instructions implementedusing any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code,interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code,object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. Embodiments may also beat least partly implemented as instructions contained in or on anon-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be read and executedby one or more processors to enable performance of the operationsdescribed herein.

The system memory 1806 may include various types of computer-readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information. In the illustratedembodiment shown in FIG. 18, the system memory 1806 can includenon-volatile memory 1810 and/or volatile memory 1812. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory1810.

The computer 1802 may include various types of computer-readable storagemedia in the form of one or more lower speed memory units, including aninternal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD) 1814-1 and 1814-2,respectively, a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1816 to read from orwrite to a removable magnetic disk 1818, and an optical disk drive 1820to read from or write to a removable optical disk 1822 (e.g., a CD-ROMor DVD). The HDD 1814, FDD 1816 and optical disk drive 1820 can beconnected to the system bus 1808 by a HDD interface 1824, an FDDinterface 1826 and an optical drive interface 1828, respectively. TheHDD interface 1824 for external drive implementations can include atleast one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interfacetechnologies.

The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatileand/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules canbe stored in the drives and memory units 1810, 1812, including anoperating system 1830, one or more application programs 1832, otherprogram modules 1834, and program data 1836. In one embodiment, the oneor more application programs 1832, other program modules 1834, andprogram data 1836 can include, for example, the various applicationsand/or components of the message application component 230, theanimation application component 250, 350; and the message servercomponent 224.

An operator can enter commands and information into the computer 1802through one or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard1838 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1840. Other input devicesmay include microphones, infra-red (IR) remote controls, radio-frequency(RF) remote controls, game pads, stylus pens, card readers, dongles,fingerprint readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards,retina readers, touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.),trackballs, trackpads, sensors, styluses, and the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing circuit 1804 throughan input device interface 1842 that is coupled to the system bus 1808,but can be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and soforth.

A monitor 1844 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 1808 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 1846. Themonitor 1844 may be internal or external to the computer 1802. Inaddition to the monitor 1844, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth.

The computer 1802 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer 1848. The remote computer1848 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personalcomputer, a portable computer, a microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1802, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1850 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted includewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1852 and/orlarger networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 1854. Such LANand WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices andcompanies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such asintranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network,for example, the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1802 isconnected to the LAN 1852 through a wired and/or wireless communicationnetwork interface or adaptor 1856. The adaptor 1856 can facilitate wiredand/or wireless communications to the LAN 1852, which may also include awireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless functionality of the adaptor 1856.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1802 can includea modem 1858, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN1854, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN1854, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1858, which can beinternal or external and a wired and/or wireless device, connects to thesystem bus 1808 via the input device interface 1842. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1802, orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1850. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexemplary and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1802 is operable to communicate with wire and wirelessdevices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such aswireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g.,IEEE 802.21 over-the-air modulation techniques). This includes at leastWi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wirelesstechnologies, among others. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.21x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure,reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used toconnect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary architecture 1900suitable for implementing various embodiments as previously described.The communications architecture 1900 includes various commoncommunications elements, such as a transmitter, receiver, transceiver,radio, network interface, baseband processor, antenna, amplifiers,filters, power supplies, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are notlimited to this implementation by the communications architecture 1900.

As shown in FIG. 19, the communications architecture 1900 comprises oneor more clients 1902 and servers 1904. The clients 1902 may implementthe devices 1420. The servers 1904 may implement the server devices1520. The clients 1902 and the servers 1904 are operatively connected toone or more respective client data stores 1908 and server data stores1910 that can be employed to store information local to the respectiveclients 1902 and servers 1904, such as cookies and/or associatedcontextual information.

The clients 1902 and the servers 1904 may communicate information amongeach other using a communication framework 1906. The communicationsframework 1906 may implement any well-known communications techniquesand protocols. The communications framework 1906 may be implemented as apacket-switched network (e.g., public networks such as the Internet,private networks such as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), acircuit-switched network (e.g., the public switched telephone network),or a combination of a packet-switched network and a circuit-switchednetwork (with suitable gateways and translators).

The communications framework 1906 may implement various networkinterfaces arranged to accept, communicate, and connect to acommunications network. A network interface may be regarded as aspecialized form of an input output interface. Network interfaces mayemploy connection protocols including without limitation direct connect,Ethernet (e.g., thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and thelike), token ring, wireless network interfaces, cellular networkinterfaces, IEEE 802.11a-x network interfaces, IEEE 802.16 networkinterfaces, IEEE 802.20 network interfaces, and the like. Further,multiple network interfaces may be used to engage with variouscommunications network types. For example, multiple network interfacesmay be employed to allow for the communication over broadcast,multicast, and unicast networks. Should processing requirements dictatea greater amount speed and capacity, distributed network controllerarchitectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance, andotherwise increase the communicative bandwidth required by clients 1902and the servers 1904. A communications network may be any one and thecombination of wired and/or wireless networks including withoutlimitation a direct interconnection, a secured custom connection, aprivate network (e.g., an enterprise intranet), a public network (e.g.,the Internet), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Local Area Network(LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), an Operating Missions as Nodeson the Internet (OMNI), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network, acellular network, and other communications networks.

FIG. 20 illustrates an embodiment of a device 2000 for use in amulticarrier OFDM system, such as the animated messaging system 100.Device 2000 may implement, for example, software components 2060 asdescribed with reference to mobile device 200 and/or a logic circuit2030. The logic circuit 2030 may include physical circuits to performoperations described for the mobile device 200. As shown in FIG. 20,device 2000 may include a radio interface 2010, baseband circuitry 2020,and computing platform 2050, although embodiments are not limited tothis configuration.

The device 2000 may implement some or all of the structure and/oroperations for the mobile device 200 and/or logic circuit 2030 in asingle computing entity, such as entirely within a single device.Alternatively, the device 2000 may distribute portions of the structureand/or operations for the mobile device 200 and/or logic circuit 2030across multiple computing entities using a distributed systemarchitecture, such as a client-server architecture, a 3-tierarchitecture, an N-tier architecture, a tightly-coupled or clusteredarchitecture, a peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture,a shared database architecture, and other types of distributed systems.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In one embodiment, radio interface 2010 may include a component orcombination of components adapted for transmitting and/or receivingsingle carrier or multi-carrier modulated signals (e.g., includingcomplementary code keying (CCK) and/or orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbols) although the embodiments are not limited toany specific over-the-air interface or modulation scheme. Radiointerface 2010 may include, for example, a receiver 2012, a transmitter2016 and/or a frequency synthesizer 2014. Radio interface 2010 mayinclude bias controls, a crystal oscillator and/or one or more antennas2018. In another embodiment, radio interface 2010 may use externalvoltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wave filters,intermediate frequency (IF) filters and/or RF filters, as desired. Dueto the variety of potential RF interface designs an expansivedescription thereof is omitted.

Baseband circuitry 2020 may communicate with radio interface 2010 toprocess, receive and/or transmit signals and may include, for example,an analog-to-digital converter 2022 for down converting receivedsignals, a digital-to-analog converter 2024 for up converting signalsfor transmission. Further, baseband circuitry 2020 may include abaseband or physical layer (PHY) processing circuit 2026 for PHY linklayer processing of respective receive/transmit signals. Basebandcircuitry 2020 may include, for example, a processing circuit 2028 formedium access control (MAC)/data link layer processing. Basebandcircuitry 2020 may include a memory controller 2032 for communicatingwith processing circuit 2028 and/or a computing platform 2050, forexample, via one or more interfaces 2034.

In some embodiments, PHY processing circuit 2026 may include a frameconstruction and/or detection module, in combination with additionalcircuitry such as a buffer memory, to construct and/or deconstructcommunication frames, such as radio frames. Alternatively or inaddition, MAC processing circuit 2028 may share processing for certainof these functions or perform these processes independent of PHYprocessing circuit 2026. In some embodiments, MAC and PHY processing maybe integrated into a single circuit.

The computing platform 2050 may provide computing functionality for thedevice 2000. As shown, the computing platform 2050 may include aprocessing component 2040. In addition to, or alternatively, thebaseband circuitry 2020, the device 2000 may execute processingoperations or logic for the mobile device 200 and logic circuit 2030using the processing component 2040. The processing component 2040(and/or PHY 2026 and/or MAC 2028) may comprise various hardwareelements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examples ofhardware elements may include devices, logic devices, components,processors, microprocessors, circuits, processor circuits, circuitelements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and soforth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits(ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors(DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates,registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and soforth. Examples of software elements may include software components,programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, systemprograms, software development programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints, as desired for a givenimplementation.

The computing platform 2050 may further include other platformcomponents 2062. Other platform components 2062 include common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components (e.g., digital displays), powersupplies, and so forth.

The computing platform 2050 and the baseband circuitry 2020 may furtherinclude one or memory units in the form of storage medium 2070. Examplesof memory units may include, without limitation. various types ofcomputer readable and machine readable storage media in the form of oneor more higher speed memory units, such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM(DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM(PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such asferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change orferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information.

Device 2000 may be, for example, an ultra-mobile device, a mobiledevice, a fixed device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile computing device, a smart phone, atelephone, a digital telephone, a cellular telephone, user equipment,eBook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messagingdevice, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, aweb server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, amini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a networkappliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics,programmable consumer electronics, game devices, television, digitaltelevision, set top box, wireless access point, base station, node B,evolved node B (eNB), subscriber station, mobile subscriber center,radio network controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine,or combination thereof. Accordingly, functions and/or specificconfigurations of device 2000 described herein, may be included oromitted in various embodiments of device 2000, as suitably desired. Insome embodiments, device 2000 may be configured to be compatible withprotocols and frequencies associated one or more of the 3GPP LTESpecifications and/or IEEE 802.16 standards for WMANs, and/or otherbroadband wireless networks, cited herein, although the embodiments arenot limited in this respect.

Embodiments of device 2000 may be implemented using single input singleoutput (SISO) architectures. However, certain implementations mayinclude multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 2018) for transmission and/orreception using adaptive antenna techniques for beamforming or spatialdivision multiple access (SDMA) and/or using MIMO communicationtechniques.

The components and features of device 2000 may be implemented using anycombination of discrete circuitry, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), logic gates and/or single chip architectures. Further,the features of device 2000 may be implemented using microcontrollers,programmable logic arrays and/or microprocessors or any combination ofthe foregoing where suitably appropriate. It is noted that hardware,firmware and/or software elements may be collectively or individuallyreferred to herein as “logic” or “circuit.”

It should be appreciated that the exemplary device 2000 shown in theblock diagram of FIG. 20 may represent one functionally descriptiveexample of many potential implementations. Accordingly, division,omission or inclusion of block functions depicted in the accompanyingfigures does not infer that the hardware components, circuits, softwareand/or elements for implementing these functions would be necessarily bedivided, omitted, or included in embodiments.

Accordingly, embodiments include methods, apparatuses, andcomputer-readable storage media for communicating using audio messages.For example, a method may include receiving a first control directive toselect an image representing a set of animation frames in a userinterface view of an application executing on a first mobile device;receiving a second control directive to begin receiving audio input inthe user interface view; receiving audio input by the first mobiledevice; animating the image according to an energy level of the audioinput using the animation frames; and presenting the animated imageconcurrently with receiving the audio input.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise animating the imageby: measuring an energy level of the audio input, and at periodicintervals: determining a range of energy levels of previously receivedaudio input over a period from a first past time to a present time;dividing the range of energy levels into a plurality of sub-ranges;mapping each animation frame in the set of animation frames to adifferent one of the sub-ranges; determining which sub-range correspondsto the measured energy level of a present audio input; selecting ananimation frame in the set of animation frames that is mapped to thedetermined sub-range; and presenting the selected animation frame on adisplay of the first computing device and outputting the present audioinput.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise normalizing themeasurements of energy levels to a range comprising a first value and asecond value. The number of sub-ranges matches a number of animationframes in the set of animation frames. The animated image comprises asequence of each animation frame selected, in the order of theselection, and the received audio input.

The application may be a messaging application or a social networkingapplication.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise retrieving the set ofanimation frames from a remote storage in response to the first controldirective.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving a thirdcontrol directive to stop receiving the audio input; and storing theanimated image on a local storage device.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise presenting theselected image in the user interface view with: a first selectable userinterface element to play the animated image on the display; a secondselectable user interface element to send the animated image as amessage; a third selectable user interface element to delete theanimated image; or a fourth selectable user interface element to storethe animated image on a local storage device.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise sending the animatedimage as a message to a remote computing device.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise applying an audioeffect to the animated image.

A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving the audioinput from a microphone on the first mobile device.

An apparatus may include a processor circuit; an animation applicationcomponent for execution on the processor circuit, the animationapplication component comprising: a graphical user interface (GUI)generator to generate user interface views on the display having imagesrepresenting a set of animation frames, to receive a first controldirective to select an image, to receive a second control directive tobegin recording audio input, and to present an animated image; a stickerrecorder to receive audio input in response to the second controldirective; and a sticker animator to animate the selected imageaccording to an energy level of the audio input using the animationframes concurrently with the receiving of the audio input. The apparatusmay be operative to implement any of the computer-implemented methodsdescribed herein.

The animation application component may comprise: an energy analyzer tomeasure an energy level of the audio input, and at periodic intervals,to: determine a range of energy levels of previously received audioinput over a period from a first past time to a present time, divide therange of energy levels into a plurality of sub-ranges, and determinewhich sub-range corresponds to the measured energy level of a presentaudio input; the sticker animator, at each interval, to map eachanimation frame in the set of animation frames to a different one of thesub-ranges, to select an animation frame in the set of animation framesthat is mapped to the determined sub-range, and the GUI generator topresent, at each interval, the animated image as a sequence of selectedanimation frames concurrently with output of the present audio input.

At least one computer-readable storage medium may comprise instructionsthat, when executed, cause a system to perform any of thecomputer-implemented methods described herein.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “one embodiment”or “an embodiment” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.Further, some embodiments may be described using the expression“coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. These terms arenot necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, someembodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or“coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalor electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, mayalso mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided toallow a reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technicaldisclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in a single embodiment for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimedembodiments require more features than are expressly recited in eachclaim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matterlies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thusthe following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which”are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,”“second,” “third,” and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are notintended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

What has been described above includes examples of the disclosedarchitecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one ofordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinationsand permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving audio input by a first mobile device; animating a selected image according to an energy level of the audio input using a set of animation frames associated with the selected image in a user interface view of an application executing on the first mobile device; and presenting the animated image concurrently with receiving the audio input.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein animating the image comprises: measuring an energy level of the audio input, and at periodic intervals: determining a range of energy levels of previously received audio input over a period from a first past time to a present time; dividing the range of energy levels into a plurality of sub-ranges; mapping each animation frame in the set of animation frames to a different one of the sub-ranges; determining which sub-range corresponds to the measured energy level of a present audio input; selecting an animation frame in the set of animation frames that is mapped to the determined sub-range; and presenting the selected animation frame on a display of the first computing device and outputting the present audio input.
 3. The method of claim 2, comprising: normalizing the measurements of energy levels to a range comprising a first value and a second value.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein a number of sub-ranges matches a number of animation frames in the set of animation frames.
 5. The method of claim 1, comprising: retrieving the set of animation frames from a remote storage in response to a first control directive selecting the image.
 6. The method of claim 1, comprising: presenting the selected image in the user interface view with: a first selectable user interface element to play the animated image on the display; a second selectable user interface element to send the animated image as a message; a third selectable user interface element to delete the animated image; or a fourth selectable user interface element to store the animated image on a local storage device.
 7. The method of claim 1, comprising: sending the animated image as a message to a remote computing device.
 8. The method of claim 1, comprising: applying an audio effect to the animated image.
 9. An apparatus, comprising: a processor circuit; an animation application component for execution on the processor circuit, the animation application component comprising: a graphical user interface (GUI) generator to generate user interface views on the display having images representing a set of animation frames, to receive a first control directive to select an image, to receive a second control directive to begin recording audio input, and to present an animated image; a sticker recorder to receive audio input in response to the second control directive; and a sticker animator to animate the selected image according to an energy level of the audio input using the animation frames concurrently with the receiving of the audio input.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, the animation application component comprising: an energy analyzer to measure an energy level of the audio input, and at periodic intervals, to: determine a range of energy levels of previously received audio input over a period from a first past time to a present time, divide the range of energy levels into a plurality of sub-ranges, and determine which sub-range corresponds to the measured energy level of a present audio input; the sticker animator, at each interval, to map each animation frame in the set of animation frames to a different one of the sub-ranges, to select an animation frame in the set of animation frames that is mapped to the determined sub-range, and the GUI generator to present, at each interval, the animated image as a sequence of selected animation frames concurrently with output of the present audio input.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, the energy analyzer to normalize the measurements of energy levels between a first value and a second value.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a number of sub-ranges matches a number of animation frames in the set of animation frames.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9, comprising: the GUI generator to present the selected image in the user interface view with: a first selectable user interface element to play the animated image on the display; a second selectable user interface element to send the animated image as a message; a third selectable user interface element to delete the animated image; or a fourth selectable user interface element to store the animated image on a local storage device.
 14. At least one computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for a message application component that, when executed, cause a device to: receive audio input; measure the energy level of the audio input; at periodic intervals while the audio input is received: determine a range of energy levels of previously received audio input over a period from a first past time to a present time; divide the range of energy levels into a plurality of sub-ranges; determine which sub-range corresponds to the measured energy level of a present audio input; determine an animation frame mapped to the determined sub-range; and present the determined animation frame on a display of the device concurrently with output of the present audio input.
 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, the animation frame determined from a set of animation frames corresponding to a selected image.
 16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, comprising instructions that when executed, cause the device to: normalize the measured energy levels to a range comprising a first value and a second value.
 17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, comprising instructions that when executed, cause the device to: store each determined animation frame in an order of the determination and the received audio input as an animated image in a local storage on the device.
 18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, comprising instructions that when executed, cause the device to: send the animated image as a message to a remote computing device.
 19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the periodic interval is a fraction of one second.
 20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein a duration between the first past time to the present time is different from the periodic interval. 